Inevitable
by Weirdly Anonymous
Summary: DH: They were childhood friends, but that changed when they grew up. Now that the war is over, is there any chance of renewing something good?


Inevitable by Weirdly Anonymous

* * *

A.N. I am so sorry I haven't updated Parts of a Whole. As a peace offering, I am posting this story. This part songfic story is based on the song "Inevitable" by Anberlin. You guys have got to hear it:) 

A.N. 2 Usual disclaimer. Harry Potter does not belong to me. Everything related to the series is owned by J.K. Rowling. The lyrics are from Anberlin. The story, however, is mine. Hope you guys enjoy:)

* * *

"Inevitable"

_Do you remember when we were just kids_

_And cardboard boxes took us miles from what we would miss_

A very young Hermione watched as the mud cake she had made grew crusty in the heat of the sun. Her mom was sitting on the bench talking with another woman. She watched her mom's very curly reddish brown hair barely move with the wind as the other adult's hair, a fine blond, lift from her cheeks, swaying with the wind.

A shadow fell over her cake. She looked up to see a boy around her age look at her with a hint of curiosity. He looked down at the now dried mud cake and his brow furrowed.

"What's this?" he asked. He squatted to poke it with his fingers.

The cake's crusty shell crumbled under his ministrations. His finger hovered in the air as he looked at the girl who had made the "cake".

Hermione looked about ready to cry. "My cake..." two fat tears slid down her cheeks. 5- year old Hermione's cake was destroyed. And it was the boy's fault!

A handkerchief dried her tears. "I'm sorry" the boy said softly. "I'll help you make another one!" he promised desperately. His mother would surely give him a talk if she found out he made a girl cry. He had done so last month after beating another girl to the swing last month and when the girl cried, his mother had given him a talk about girls and how they were to go first. "Ladies first. That's proper manners" she said.

Hermione's tears stopped. "Really?" she asked with a smile. "Really" the boy said. Hermione got excited. "Maybe we can make a bigger cake now! There's two of us who can do it!" She said. As she said it she grabbed the pail and started towards the faucets in the park.

Both children made a cake (3 layers of dirt in all its glory) and showed it to their mothers (she had found out the other mother her mom was talking to was HIS mother) and they had laughed while making the cake, telling stories and other things.

Hermione had made her first friend in the park. It was a friend she was sure never to forget. His name was Draco.

_Schoolyard conversations taken to heart_

_And laughter took the place of everything we knew we were not_

Draco and Hermione became the best of friends. Draco would come to the park only once a week (she had asked why and Draco had said he lived far away). Even if he would only come weekly, they would play and talk as if they hadn't been apart for 6 whole days. They would pretend to be explorers in the park, poking, touching and pretending some of the objects were animals and other things. They would climb the jungle gym and Hermione taught Draco how to hang upside down.

"Tuck your knees weal tight Dwaco!" Her Rs had become Ws because she lost her first tooth that week.

They'd hang upside down for a long time, waiting for their mothers to scold them for doing it too long.

They'd catch insects and chase after the butterflies. They'd have a grand time.

They were normal 5- year olds. Too young to know that they were different, and certainly too young to understand that they'd soon see each other no more.

_I wanna break every clock_

_The hands of time could never move again_

_We could stay in this moment (stay in this moment)_

For the rest of our lives

_ Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now_

It was one Saturday that something seemed different. Draco's mom was crying as she talked to Hermione's mom. Draco was quiet too. He kept looking at his mom with what could only be described as desperate and pleading.

"What's wrong Draco?"

"This...we can't play anymore!" he burst out. Tears started to fall out of his eyes. It was the first time Hermione saw him cry.

"Why? Don't you like me anymore?" Hermione's lip was starting to quiver. Now she felt like crying too.

"No! You're my best friend. You'll always be my best friend!" Draco gave her a tight hug.

"But why won't I play with you anymore?"

"Daddy doesn't like that we play here." Draco confessed. "He found out we would come here and he got real mad. He hit mommy" he whispered. "And he told mommy that we were never to come here again."

"But why?! Why can't you come here?" she yelled.

"I don't know. I can't tell you. Mommy says I can't." Draco's eyes were starting to well again.

Hermione sobbed. She cried real loud. She hugged Draco and he hugged her back.

"I'm going to miss you. Promise you'll always be my friend?!"

"I promise." Draco said solemnly, seemingly older than his young 5 years.

"And Malfoys keep their promises" Hermione nodded. It was what Draco would always tell her whenever he'd promise that he would come the following week.

I wanna be your last, first kiss That you'll ever have I wanna be your last, first kiss

"Draco, we have to go." Narcissa's voice was urgent. Her eyes were red and there was no carefree smile on her face.

"No!" Hermione shouted and held on to Draco.

"Hermione I'm sorry...but we have to go." Narcissa said softly.

"Aunt Cissy, you can't leave! I want to be with Draco!" she started crying. Hermione's mother picked her up. She turned to Narcissa.

"Be careful. Please, always be careful." Hermione's mom said quietly.

"Thank you for your friendship. You don't know how much I value it." Narcissa was becoming emotional, but she refrained. Lucius might think something was amiss.

And with that, the mother- son pair walked away.

A_mazing how life turns out the way that it does_

_We end up hurting the worst, the only ones we really love_

Funny that 6 years later their paths would cross again, but things were different. He was different.

Now at 17 and at her 7th year at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron were never privy to the fact that when she was 5, she was friends, no, BEST FRIENDS, with Draco Malfoy.

At 11 she had remembered his name, but had been too shy. She had perhaps though that he had forgotten her. But his eyes had held recognition, but he had been cold. So cold, so hard. He had called her mudblood and that was the end of it. She had cried, cried too much. It was painful to be disdained by a friend.

But she had hoped, oh how she had hoped. After what had happened during the Quidditch World Cup when she watched with the Weasley Family, she had hoped with her whole heart.

After seeing Malfoy Senior, Malfoy Junior and Narcissa, she had seen Narcissa's eyes widen in recognition before they had returned to the cold, icy stare they had been set into. But the change had been enough for Hermione to see that Aunt Cissy remembered her.

She had gone to the loo during the break and when she entered Aunt Cissy had been there. That was when the unexpected happened. After checking that no other people were inside the loo, Aunt Cissy had hugged her.

"Do you remember me?" she had asked. Her voice was shaking.

She had nodded and smiled.

"Draco remembers you. But you understand why..." Narcissa's voice trailed off, but she didn't need to say it.

Hermione understood. She nodded.

"I'm sorry. I truly am." Narcissa said softly.

"It's not your fault." Hermione said. Narcissa smiled.

"You're just like your mother. Please tell her I miss her and I still value our friendship."

And with that, she was gone. But the whole event had given Hermione hope. But then again, still nothing had changed.

She didn't understand why they couldn't be friends again. Or perhaps, she understood too much. Recalling details from her childhood memories had been a little hazy, but with the help of a pensive, she was able to view her memories as an outsider.

'Damn Lucius to hell for his prejudice' she though bitterly.

But Lucius had been damned.

The dark lord had fallen and Lucius with him.

Draco had not become a death eater, renouncing his father's teachings at the end as he lent his wand to the good side. Surprisingly, a number of the Slytherins including Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle had done the same as well. It seemed that they had all been playing everyone, acting that the way they did to please their own parents. 'Slytherins are cunning, not stupid' Hermione snorted.

'Would things change, I wonder' she mused. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the other person coming to the astronomy tower. She only turned when she hear the door open.

It was Draco.

'Now isn't it just all fine and dandy?' Hermione shook her head.

"Malfoy. I was just about to leave." Hermione moved to leave.

She was almost at the door when she felt a hand on her arm, stopping her journey. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she turned to face Malfoy.

"What..." she only had to look into his eyes. They were different. They were strangely soft, not the icy ones that they've been the previous years.

"Hermione." he had never called her by name.

_I wanna break every clock_

_The hands of time could never move again_

_We could stay in this moment (stay in this moment)_

For the rest of our lives

_Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now_

"Draco." Hermione said softly, hesitantly.

A long silence followed, but Draco's arm never dropped and Hermione never moved away. Neither seemed to know how to continue.

"Mother says hi. She asked me to give you a letter to give to your mother" He said after a spell.

Hermione was a little stunned. "You remember?"

Draco gave her a long look. "You know I never forgot."

Hermione didn't know what to do. 'He's here now. He's...' Hermione couldn't describe what he was. But she knew what she wanted to do. And she had her Gryffindor courage.

With little hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Automatically his arms were around her and his head dropped on top of hers. Hermione's frame started to shake as a loud sob was released from her throat. She never cried when she killed the death eaters, she didn't cry when she was injured and she kept on fighting but now, in this moment...she wore her heart on her sleeve.

Draco's hand gently stroked her back as he softly murmured placating words. But his grip was tight. He was never going to let her go.

"I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you. I knew you remembered me. But I couldn't...please understand...I would never..." he was desperate to make her understand that he had never wanted to alienate her, to insult her and to hurt her the way he did.

"You don't need to explain, I understood, I knew. But I never thought..." She was tearing up again. Draco hugged her tighter.

At that moment, they both knew that they could never let each other go.

_I wanna be your last, first kiss_

_That you'll ever have I wanna be your last, first kiss_

Their friendship had been a big surprise to everyone at Hogwarts. For the remainder of the year they had hung out together, meshing their friends as well. At first Harry and Ron had been reluctant ("How could you forget the way he hurt you 'Mione!") but they had come to accept that Hermione had technically been Draco's friend first and not theirs. But through time they had become great friends. The Slytherins were no longer alienated as a whole. In Hogwarts, there were no real houses as everyone had friends from the other houses. The war had changed everything.

Narcissa had also started corresponding with Hermione and Hermione's mother. They were once again, good friends, as if they had never been apart for years.

Hermione and Draco were at first tentative at best with their re-found friendship, but the ease with which they had become friends in the first place had reasserted itself. They laughed at the stories they shared, apologized for grievances done (Hermione had apologized for punching Malfoy) and they had made new memories together.

But sometimes it seemed not enough. Draco had grown into a handsome man and girls were not immune to his good looks, Old world manners and charm, not even Hermione.

'He's my friend. My best friend...' She would convince herself that there was nothing and that she should do nothing to jeopardize that. She should be content with their friendship, which she had before thought would never be renewed in a million years.

But it was hard, oh so very hard, not to think of Draco as more than a friend. When they hugged Draco's hands would linger on her back and when he kissed her cheek goodnight it would tingle for hours.

She would catch herself looking at him when he was doing something else. She would then berate herself for thinking that way.

It was a mess. She was a mess.

One day Draco approached Hermione. Giving her a half- hug, he looked at her and said, "We have to talk." Dread filled Hermione. Had he noticed? Had he noticed that I look at him as much as I can? Had he noticed that whenever he hugged her she would hold on to him, not wanting to let him go? Had he noticed she loved him?

Was he angry?

"Hermione, I can't... I can't be friends anymore."

_Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now_

_Is it over how hey, hey, it's not over now_

Hermione's heart fell. 'I'm not going to cry, damn it!'

"What? Did I do something wrong?" she couldn't help asking.

Draco looked startled. "No! I don't mean it that way... I meant... Damn, I'm not doing a good job of explaining myself, am I?" he smiled a little and Hermione felt better. She giggled and said, "No. Now you better do it fast before I really start to think you don't want to be friends anymore."

"I want to be friends. You know how hard it was for me not to acknowledge you these past years" Draco rushed.

"But I can't keep on ignoring my feelings." Hermione's head shot up. 'Is this going where I hope this is going?'

"I can't...damn it Hermione I love you!" He burst out. He then paled.

"I didn't mean to say it immediately..."

"But you did. Do you mean it?" Hermione's voice was shaking.

"You know I do." Draco was quiet. His head was bowed. He missed Hermione's look of pure happiness.

"Draco, look at me." They looked into each other's eyes. She waited as Draco's eyes dawned in understanding.

"I love you." she said simply. "I love you, Draco, and only you."

They met each other halfway as they wrapped their arms and had their first kiss. It was tender and gentle, with just a hint of passion to give them a taste of the possibilities. It was perfect.

When they separated, they both looked at each other as if they had been hit with a Stunning spell. Soon Hermione smiled and blushed as Draco smirked.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist me" he teased.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him and proceeded to kiss the smirk off his face.

I Love You.

_I wanna be your last, first kiss That you'll ever have (that you'll ever have)  
I wanna be your last, first love (that you'll ever have)  
Till you're lying here beside me with arms and eyes open wide_

_I wanna be your last, first kiss for all time  
_

The End.

* * *

A.N. 

Finished it in one night! hehehe Please Please Please REVIEW!  
Parts of A whole Chapter 5 to come soon! Sorry for taking so long.

Now, Press that review button!!!

Weirdly Anonynmous, signing off!


End file.
